West Ham manager Harry Redknapp has attacked UEFA's decision to virtually guarantee a place in their cup competition next season to Newcastle - and so deny entry for the team who finish fifth in the Premiership.
In a bizarre situation, Ruud Gullit's Magpies have been almost guaranteed a place in Europe next season by European soccer's governing body even if they lose their FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham next weekend.
This follows confirmation that one of England's three UEFA Cup qualifiers must come from the FA Cup - and means that the side finishing fifth in the Premiership are likely to miss out.
Spurs have already qualified for Europe by winning the League Cup, and the other two teams left in the FA Cup - Arsenal and Manchester United - are almost certain of a place in the Champions' League.
So Arsenal or United would have to finish outside the top three in the Premiership for Newcastle's place in Europe to be taken away from them, unless they won the FA Cup themselves.
West Ham are currently occupying fifth place in the Premiership and are one of the clubs who may lose out under UEFA's ruling. Redknapp said it was a strange and disappointing decision.
"Whoever it affects, it is the wrong way to decide it," he said. "How can they give it to a team who might get knocked out in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
"It doesn't make sense to me, but then half the decisions made by people who dictate what goes on in football don't make sense to me, so this is nothing new.
"It takes away the incentive for the clubs chasing that UEFA Cup place via the league. Surely it is a much greater achievement to finish fifth in the Premiership than it is to finish fourth in the FA Cup."
UEFA's executive committee still have to ratify the decisions next month, but it would appear that even if Manchester United win the Champions League or Chelsea win the Cup Winners' Cup and also finish in the top three of the Premiership, there would be no knock-on effect.
The Premier League also condemned UEFA's decision as a "mistake" and vowed to make representations to ensure that the same situation could not occur again next season.
Premiership clubs, who were overwhelmingly opposed to the current rules at their last meeting, believe that a team should only qualify for Europe if they win the FA Cup, although they can see the argument in favour of the losing finalists.
Premier League spokesman Mike Lee said: "We do not agree with UEFA's position and we believe that the place should revert to the fifth-placed Premiership side instead of the losing FA Cup semi-finalists."
FA spokesman Steve Double added: "UEFA have told us that under their criteria and given the existing position, it would be Newcastle who would qualify for the UEFA Cup next season barring Manchester United and Arsenal falling out of the Champions' League places."
